Last month, before going home from work I headed to Shopwise in Pasong Tamo, Makati when two women took my attention. They politely asked if I could spare them some money because they only had forty pesos left in their pocket. "We can't contact our relative who lives nearby so we want to go home instead." the other one explained. They said they have to take a bus in order to get home to Cavite. I paused for several seconds and decided to give them a couple of hundreds.
My instinct told me that they were just making the story up. They are grifters. Of course I can't be absolute just by the impression I have on them that moment. Whether their story was real or not, it felt right to give them money. If they really didn't have money for the bus fare, what if nobody else gives them what they need. On the other hand, if that story was made up, there are reasons why they resort to that kind of mean. All of them are bad because they are not in line with the standard of what is good or right. I just wanted them to realize that there are a lot of good people around that are willing to help them. They can still find persons that can give them jobs or help them if they have ideas to make money in a legal way.
After that incident, I saw them again at the same spot few more times. I can now conclude that their story was not real. I just hope that in my own little way, slowly they'll realize that they can still change.
They still have hope.
